Sony A7 models with non-Sony lenses

Charlie,

Been following this thread for sometime. As you know I'm wanting to expand my kit to include a light and portable mirrorless to go along with (and possibly replace) the 6D and Fuji X100t. I'm considering both the Fuji xt-1 and a flavor of Sony a7 (R S or II).
I like the idea of th A7R resolution for my landscape work, but have read a lot about sony's funky UI and that atrocious shutter sound.
The Fuji xt1 is very promising with a much more friendly user experience, a near silent shutter and great colors (going by my x100t). But it lacks the resolution of the Sony. We'll see. I'm in no rush.

Johnny010 wrote in post #17479223

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/qGYP​rd
Leeds Lurking March 15, 2015 05-07 by Jonathan Covell Photography, on Flickr

Love the color. Really cool building and capture. The architect in me says, "Straighten up your verticals."
Nice work.

Puckman wrote in post #17479247
Charlie,

Been following this thread for sometime. As you know I'm wanting to expand my kit to include a light and portable mirrorless to go along with (and possibly replace) the 6D and Fuji X100t. I'm considering both the Fuji xt-1 and a flavor of Sony a7 (R S or II).
I like the idea of th A7R resolution for my landscape work, but have read a lot about sony's funky UI and that atrocious shutter sound.
The Fuji xt1 is very promising with a much more friendly user experience, a near silent shutter and great colors (going by my x100t). But it lacks the resolution of the Sony. We'll see. I'm in no rush.

Having also a 6D and a Fuji x100s i was standing at the same point like you about 3 months ago. I was wanting the A7R since it came out but didnt find it nessesairy. However when i was ready to "eventually" get one i placed a bid on ebay thinking that low id never get it, but nobody was interested and i got it cheap. After that i was realizing how good that thing is and the loud shutter is no problem to me as for landscape and fineart stuff i dont need a silent shutter. Having it in the A7s is different thought, as i use the A7s for people, street and everyday photography...

Just that its said, i sold the 16-35L from canon to get the equivalent of Sony, got a CV40 1.4 and am now selling the Fuji x100s. Also sold the 135L and am going to eventually sell the 6D and the 50L too. 3 months ago i have never thought that i would once sell my beloved 6D as it was my first FF camera and has actually served me very well. However, i cant justify owning 3 different systems and 3 FF cameras.

From Samyang 85mm at f2 Natural light

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/rEL3​jt

davidfarina wrote in post #17479265
Having also a 6D and a Fuji x100s i was standing at the same point like you about 3 months ago. I was wanting the A7R since it came out but didnt find it nessesairy. However when i was ready to "eventually" get one i placed a bid on ebay thinking that low id never get it, but nobody was interested and i got it cheap. After that i was realizing how good that thing is and the loud shutter is no problem to me as for landscape and fineart stuff i dont need a silent shutter. Having it in the A7s is different thought, as i use the A7s for people, street and everyday photography...

Just that its said, i sold the 16-35L from canon to get the equivalent of Sony, got a CV40 1.4 and am now selling the Fuji x100s. Also sold the 135L and am going to eventually sell the 6D and the 50L too. 3 months ago i have never thought that i would once sell my beloved 6D as it was my first FF camera and has actually served me very well. However, i cant justify owning 3 different systems and 3 FF cameras.

That describes me to a tee. LOL. Good to know I'm not the only one who thinks this way. I'm attached to the 6D for the same reason as you. First FF. Served me VERY well in my photography (which tends to be mostly landscape, city, architecture). Specially coupled with the 16-35Lf/4IS from Canon, which is my go to lens, along with the 70-200Lf/4IS.
Just like you, one of the reasons I am still shying away from Sony is that it's an expensive system to swap into, and where I'd probably want to get rid of my 6D and Canon L glass if I want to go all Sony (whereas the Fuji system is a bit easier to get into and still keep the Canon stuff, maybe?)

In any case, thanks for the info!

well, the great thing with the sony is that you can definitely transition at your own pace. A7 + EF to Nex adapter is all you need. If it works for you, then sell off piece by piece. It was the opposite for my brother, the A7r didnt work out for him, and after months of use, he took a few hundred hit on the sale. He's a bit reluctant to sell the 55 F1.8, and I'll just keep it for him until he makes that decision

he's been thinking about going back to the A7r again, but the UI was way too different for him to handle.

Charlie wrote in post #17479414
well, the great thing with the sony is that you can definitely transition at your own pace. A7 + EF to Nex adapter is all you need. If it works for you, then sell off piece by piece. It was the opposite for my brother, the A7r didnt work out for him, and after months of use, he took a few hundred hit on the sale. He's a bit reluctant to sell the 55 F1.8, and I'll just keep it for him until he makes that decision

he's been thinking about going back to the A7r again, but the UI was way too different for him to handle.

The UI is definitely one of my concerns. I like user-friendly. I'm not someone who enjoys digging into menus and so on. That all gets in the way of photo-taking. That's one of the areas where Fuji shines.
What is it that didn't work out for your bro? And what'd he transition to? Back to Canon?

Puckman wrote in post #17479417
The UI is definitely one of my concerns. I like user-friendly. I'm not someone who enjoys digging into menus and so on. That all gets in the way of photo-taking. That's one of the areas where Fuji shines.
What is it that didn't work out for your bro? And what'd he transition to? Back to Canon?

The UI is actually very similar to Canon's.

Physical controls, though placed closer together due to the size of the body, are better than Canon. (more control wheels and lots of customizable buttons to suit your needs specifically.

Puckman wrote in post #17479417
The UI is definitely one of my concerns. I like user-friendly. I'm not someone who enjoys digging into menus and so on. That all gets in the way of photo-taking. That's one of the areas where Fuji shines.
What is it that didn't work out for your bro? And what'd he transition to? Back to Canon?

I dont mean to say that the sony system takes a lot of work in the field, the contrary. It's extremely easy to use in the field once set up. Setting it up is the hard part.

I'm kind of particular in how I set it up, I have to have my back button focus, quickly turn on and off AF/OSS

It's definitely a lot easier to use in the field for a few reasons
1. Separate wheel for ISO, Aperture, and shutter, I dont need to press iso to change the iso, I just roll the dedicated iso wheel.
2. With native lens, I control AF and OSS quickly with programmed buttons, and know exactly when AF is disabled, rather than looking on the lens to check. Small difference, but I love it.
3. Focus peaking is so much better on the sony, it was made for that sort of thing, much easier to nail landscape focus/focus stacking, ect.
4. The level in the viewfinder, great to have, love it.
5. The tilt screen. Love getting low without having to lay down.
6. HDR is enabled/disabled quickly without ever going into the menu (however canon has a much more robust HDR setup).
7. White balance, also easily adjusted, and the memory is really sweet.
8. In viewfinder histogram
9. EVF is great for achieving focus on really bright days, where live view would be really difficult to use.


my brother is back to his 5D3 (never sold in the first place). He just couldnt figure which control was which. He tried to shoot both canon and sony and failed badly.

Charlie, don't forget to mention that Exposure Compensation also has its own dedicated wheel and works even in manual mode. I also love the fact that as I make changes to the EC, the changes show on the viewfinder/LCD so I know instantly what the final result will look like.

I'll say this. After a month or so with the Fuji X100T, I've come to love the EVF (didn't think I would), and its in-EVF histogram, level, etc. I also love having the exposure comp dial (wish my 6D had one). So I'm with you guys on that stuff. Looks like Sony has those things figured out (same as Fuji).
I never used the in-camera HDR on the Canon. I will very rarely use bracketing on the Canon. I can't imagine that Sony is any worse.

yes gene, the EC dial is great, however, I turned off the live view setting for exposure simulation, and I forget why. I think it was because I shot with filters a lot and it would screw up things when I composed without filter, then shot with filter. But for non filtered shooting, it works great for sure. Between the quick menu (FN) and all the customization you can do, I hardly ever go into the menu.

I do wish that custom mode 1/2 worked more like canon. I shoot BBAF, and if I hand over my camera to someone else, mode 1/2 dont retain AF button mappings. Other than that, it's pretty cool how sony implemented those custom mode.

'I also love the fact that as I make changes to the EC, the changes show on the viewfinder/LCD so I know instantly what the final result will look like'
Please remind me where that setting is.

MedicineMan4040 wrote in post #17479577
'I also love the fact that as I make changes to the EC, the changes show on the viewfinder/LCD so I know instantly what the final result will look like'
Please remind me where that setting is.

In the menu, navigate to the gear icon tab, 2nd page. Scroll down to "Live View Display - Setting effect ON" to toggle on or off. As Charlie mentions, there may be times that it's best to set that feature to "Off". I suggest playing around with it to see exactly what it does and when it's best to leave it on (by default) or turn it off.

When in dark and i have my light meter, i leave it off. Also in dark scene doing bulb mode long exposure shots.